1. Field
This invention relates to devices for cooking food out of doors. More particularly, this invention provides for a portable adjustable accessory for cooking food out of doors.
2. State of the Art
The increasing popularity of outdoor activities such as camping has brought increased attention to the problems of open fire grilling or cooking. That is, outdoor cooking over an open fire which may be made of coals, wood or similar combustible substances, has attained some measure of popularity in recent years. However, rugged and reliable apparatus to assist the outdoorsman in preparing food over an open fire is not known.
Cooking over an open fire can be regarded as difficult because of the problems of controlling the proximity of food to the fire and concomitantly cooking temperatures of the food. The problem is complexified by the different kinds of food (e.g., eggs, meats, pancakes) and different cooking methods (e.g., frying, grilling, roasting). A variety of "make-do" or "make-the-best-of-it" techniques are known. Indeed, some relatively complex and ostensibly expensive apparatus have been devised to assist generally in camp fire cooking. However, a simple portable and rugged device to assist the outdoorsman or camper in all forms of outdoor open fire cooking is not known.
The devices which are known to be intended for outdoor cooking are complex and expensive and may be regarded as lacking in durability. They are generally unsuitable and inconvenient to use. For example, three inventions to Lucas U.S. Pat Nos. 2,912,973; 3,067,734; and 3,152,536) disclose a portable barbecue (grill) with improvements thereon. It may be noted that the grill device of Lucas is particularly complex having numerous moving parts and close fitting parts which require reasonably close machining to manufacture. It should be noted that in the environment of an open fire, residue from the smoke evolving from the fire will build up on the apparatus and inhibit the proper functioning of moving parts. Further, a typical material of construction for the devices of Lucas would be iron or iron alloys; and it is known that many of such materials suffer increased corrosion when exposed to an open fire. Also, devices such as those disclosed by Lucas are hot and sooty after use; and in the outdoor environment, one would tend to leave them outside to cool, to avoid cleaning or for reuse. Thus, it would over time corrode even further as it becomes exposed to rain, dew and the elements. Thus, the complex devices of Lucas would suffer corrosion which would inevitably inhibit proper functioning. Indeed, the absence of durability suggests that Lucas'devices are not particularly suitable for outdoor use. This is particularly so in the circumstances where such a device by virtue of its complex construction must be regarded as comparatively expensive.
It should also be noted that the devices disclosed by Lucas rely on a fire bucket or pan to which it is to be adapted in order to maintain vertical stability. Such a pan is particularly undesirable for outdoor campers and the like because it requires additional space which in the outdoor camping environment is typically at a premium. It also is undesirable because such a pan would tend to be dirty, corroded (after use) and otherwise generally unsuitable for adaption to the open fire fireplaces and the like provided at some governmentally operated campsites and otherwise typically available to the camper or outdoorsman.
The device disclosed by Tallaksen U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,113) is similarly unsuitable for outdoor use for virtue of the fact that it similarly has a fire pan and is more particularly adapted for use with an indoor fireplace. The device disclosed by Bartels et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,439) is also unsuitable by virtue of an array of hand operated nuts, bolts and other adjustment devices associated with its operation and use.
Indeed, it appears that there is a need for a strong, durable and portable yet effective adjustable cooking accessory that may be used in a variety of different environments by a camper or outdoorsman.